Video screenshot, Bruce Wood Dance Dallas

The third cohort of TACA’s Arts Accelerator is taking a step up in scale.

After two years focused on small and emerging arts groups, the Dallas arts nonprofit is expanding its learning program to support mid-size organizations ready for their next phase of growth. The 2025–2026 cohort includes four Dallas County-based groups: Bruce Wood Dance, Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, Shakespeare Dallas, and Texas Winds Musical Outreach.

Shakespeare Dallas [Photo: Linda Blasé]

The organizations are on the “precipice of significant transformation,” said Maura Sheffler, TACA’s executive director, in a statement. She called the new cohort an investment in a different corner of the arts ecosystem—one with the potential to create ripple effects throughout Dallas. 

“As the Arts Accelerator matures, we look to a future where we can support a wide range of arts organizations as they chart their path forward,” Sheffler said.

TACA Executive Director Maura Sheffler [Photo: Gary Donihoo]

The TACA Arts Accelerator, launched in 2023, is designed to strengthen leadership and business capacity in the arts sector. Past cohorts have included nonprofits in their early years or in the midst of transitions. The newly reimagined third cohort focuses on arts groups with experienced leadership, established programs, and the kinds of challenges that come with organizations ready to scale.

Suzanne Smith, founder and CEO of Social Impact Architects [File photo]

Built in collaboration with Suzanne Smith of Social Impact Architects, the program’s content is grounded in the “flywheel effect” concept from Jim Collins’ Good to Great. For nonprofits, that translates to a model of sustainable momentum—tightening operations, improving performance, and boosting fundraising, audience development, and board engagement as interconnected parts of a long-term strategy.

“TACA has cracked the code of capacity-building for emerging arts groups,” Smith said. She described the Accelerator as a true learning community, designed to deliver “real, sustainable growth” instead of one-and-done workshops.

The shift comes on the heels of the second cohort’s completion in May. That group—The Cedars Union, kNOwBOX dance, Lone Star Wind Orchestra, Over the Bridge Arts, Representa, and The Writer’s Garret—created strategic plans to guide their next three to five years. Each received a $5,000 grant to support implementation.

“I have never felt more confident in meeting with potential partners and board members,” said Lori Sundeen Soderbergh, executive and artistic director of Over the Bridge Arts. She credited the program with giving her a three-year roadmap and clear talking points to communicate her organization’s direction.

TACA—short for The Arts Community Alliance—is a Dallas-based nonprofit that supports and funds a broad spectrum of local arts organizations. The current cohort is supported by Communities Foundation of Texas and the Sapphire Foundation.

GALLERY

The Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra rehearses for their season opening concert in 2023 at the Meyerson Symphony Center in downtown Dallas. [Photo: Jeffrey McWhorter]

Studio photograph of Bruce Wood Dance company [Photo: Kent Barker]

Texas Winds Musical Outreach [Photo via TACA]

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